Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1887-02-05
A RICE
Tho Manner In W hich the Fields are Fieod-
ed-A PICTURESQUE si2k,-

As soon as the germ root pushes OF:
underneath the grain IN search for food, !
a minute point IS visible abore the
ground. reaching up for light and air.
This i the enDryo stalk, and corresponds
with the germ root. The plant is nov +
in the prope- stage for forcing, AMI The
stretch water should be put on az once.
The water is al first turned on deep. en-
tiTc!7 covering the surface Of the squares,
and the Young plant, drinking in the
life-aiving fluid. commences TO rear is
head aloft and reach up for light and
air. The river water IS seldom clear
ALWAYS more or less tingeo with mud
and the tender shoot battles manfIll7
With it's semi-transIuccnt covering to
bask in tie comforting rays Of the sun.
Ate! the. rice has become sufficiently
stretched. orafew inches high-a period
extending through from two to ten days
the water is Stacked down to what IS
known as ''slack-water gauge" SO as TO
show the tops OF the plant and gle 1t
necessary air and sunshine. II the pant
is longer than the water is deep. which
is generally the case, 1t floats its upper
leaves on the surface IN long, waving
lines across the s1uares-a slngularIE at
t~ractive and beautiful picture. 1t Sc
dom happens, however, that the whole
plantation is under tie same treatment
AZ the same ting, for, with ooo or co.
acres to SOW, it is q difficult matter IN
early spring, with frequent interruptions
from rains and bad weather, to seed down
so LARGE an acreage in time for utilizing
any one spring tide for flowing. A large
plantation will run tive or SIX grain
! drills at once and put IN sometimes sixty
five or seventy acres daily; but even
with as rapId work as this it is impossi-
BILE to get all in contemporaneously.
/ Consequently it is a common thing to
see perhaps one-fourth Of the squares
under the stretch water. another fourth
under charge of the gun squad walt
ing for the tender point to shoot; an
other series under the sprout water and
the remainder in process of planting. all
at once. This necessarily odds greater
interest and diversity to the process and
prospect.
Sometimes, too, the rice comes up
mixed with ''%volunteer;" this is the
product of the grain shaken out during
the previous harvest and scattered
DlOalCdSL over lllc lblltl. II IL S1A 80
erallv be removed by the hoe, but where
it is very thick sometimes necessltates
reptewing and seeding, thus throwing
late q portion of the crop. This volun-
teer rice is hardy and prolific and ex-
ternallv similar to white rice, but the
objection to it is that the berry is red
and greatly reduces the grade Of rice
with which it is mixed, besides totally
uniting it for seed. To destroy this
obnoxious tare the fields are sometimes
thrown into dry crops for a year or two
or kept under water for o like time.
twill be remembered that each square
is under separate control and, eXcep1
where two or more are temporarily unlteC
by the check banks washing through
) can be flowed and drained independent,
at the pleasure of the planter. A wall
over the banks OF q plantation at thiI
-, period is replete with interest; at ever,
step the ''iddlers, , scurrying from YIN
. der your feet and ducking into tltel
holes, each me-, as he disappears, Wav
| ing aloft in defiance his disproportionas
manacle. IOnder are small squads 0
negroes IL tWos and threes. dIa.g.n,
with long wooden rakes the ~t.oatin;
f trash and stubble bio Nh by the WING Il
. masses against the lee banks and Dllln!
i. on the pathways. Over there tie rat
tie of the grain drills is heard seeding
0 down the few belated squares. Here
ny the trunk-m1nder with his assistant har
p at work repairing a leak. On the cans
bank is the overscer in consultation wit
the planter on, his daily visit to the field:
5 his little sailboat rocking at the whal
# down by the quarter. Attention is calie
# to a defective trunk or a danCerO}
bank; stretch water, tomorrow. mu:
be turned on number six and numD'
: eight, and sprout water let OFT fire.
2. seventeen and tWentv-three. The l0n
IS cord OF the submerged thermometer
drawn in hand over hand, its readlr
carefully taken and the mean temper
'e ture of the water for the mont In Il
r oversecr's handy notebook is compare
= with that Of last year and depende
operations deduced and determine
p" Prom the high and dry squares on Il
. further side comes the casual pop Of Il
4, = musket, while tiockso of DAVIS and hung
crows circle overhead, awaiting The
opportunity to settle down or t
s]prouting grain. Everything works
/ its appropriate groove and little is Il
IS to chance.
The stretch water is held at the sla
s gauge from twenty,to forty days, VIII
% the dry root and the leaves corr
as pondin~ - i have put out. Tie a
he phioious and psmnered plant has n
nv had enough OF its stimulating thou
strictly temperance beverage and
ready for a period Of "prohibition'
1t dry growth
ed -
IrnrnIinn ON l4c Ahnnn